April 10, 2008 0 comments
Check out Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis, and you likely will see something you haven’t seen before. It doesn’t matter if you’ve seen Ellis and the Warriors 20 times, five times or never.
Ellis, 22, runs the floor like a sprinter, attacks the basket the way the late Walter Payton sought a badly needed last yard, hangs in the air using the body control of a high jumper - and still his game has much room to grow.
Ellis entered the NBA out of high school as the 40th player taken in the 2005 draft - the last in which high school players were eligible. Many players who skipped college to enter the draft have been virtually unheard from since. But answer this: Would you rather have Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut, the 2005 draft’s No. 1 overall pick, or Ellis? In fact, other than Utah’s Deron Williams, New Orleans’ Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Andrew Bynum, there’s no player in that draft I’d even consider selecting in front of Ellis given the opportunity for a do-over.
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